Tottenham’s takeover of north London was put on hold, at least for one weekend, by an Arsenal team that was supposed to be in crisis.

Following an opening thirty minutes where the blood rivals’ matching 3-4-3 formations completely canceled each other out, Arsenal took the lead under shady circumstances. First, Chilean Alexis Sanchez was barely fouled by Davinson Sánchez and, then, Shkodran Mustafi was inches offside as he headed in the resulting free kick to put the Gunners ahead. Five minutes later a lovely passing move released Alexandre Lacazette behind the Spurs backline and the Frenchmen fizzed in a cross which Arsenal’s Sanchez somehow controlled and buried into the top of the net.

The dreaded 2-0 scoreline, which normally triggers an Arsenal self-immolation, was bizarrely unchallenged by Mauricio Pochettino’s men in a second half which highlighted a gigantic hole in the Argentine’s much-lauded resume. Spurs have a grand total of one away win in 17 attempts against the established top six under Pochettino. Some of Saturday’s loss should be attributed to Spurs’ trifecta of ineffective stars — Harry Kane, who was carrying a niggling injury, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen — but where the blame really lays is at the feet of the manager. If the Spurs are truly going to take the next step and become legitimate title challengers, Pochettino needs to figure out why his team crushes the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool at home, but then get smoked by Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal on the road.

Alexis Sanchez (right) scores against Tottenham.Getty Images

Pochettino needs only to look at his opposite number from Saturday’s game to understand why he’s got to solve this particular problem as soon as possible. Arsene Wenger, like Pochettino, came from overseas and “revolutionized” the English game. The Frenchmen won handfuls of trophies with the legendary “Invincibles” and got tantalizing close to winning yet more silverware on multiple occasions with a team built around young, inexpensive studs like Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, and Samir Nasri all while building a new, state-of-the-art stadium. However, the “Young Guns” never got over the hump and the team was unwillingly dismantled when the star men hit their primes and demanded to both win things and get paid huge amounts of money. Pochettino, if he is to avoid the same fate, needs to win more than just plaudits before Kane, Alli and Erikson demand to move through the Tottenham exit door for the greener pastures of Madrid, Barcelona, or PSG.

Arsenal fans, meanwhile, must look at Saturday’s game and simply enjoy the moment because the club’s fate is impervious to results. No matter what happens on the field, Wenger’s job is both completely safe and totally up in the air. He signed a new two-year contract in May yet recently said that his future will be decided next summer. Similarly, Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are steadfastly refusing to sign new deals and will either be sold in January or move on free transfers next summer. Finally, Arsenal are always capable of playing like they did against Tottenham but are just as likely to screw up against a lesser side like Burnley next weekend. All of those realities were true three, six, and 12 months ago — and they’ll be true when the transfer window opens in 42 days and again when the season ends in May. But, for a few days at least, Arsenal fans can feel good because they beat their noisy neighbors, and they beat them well.

Goal of the Week

Ashley Barnes, Burnley 2 – 0 Swansea

Burnley are not flashy. They are not sexy. And they aren’t even particularly entertaining. Instead, they are as solid as England’s winter is depressing. Thus, moments of magic like Ashley Barnes’ almost half-volleyed piledriver against Swansea should be savored.

Red card of the Week

Simon Francis, Bournemouth 4-0 Huddersfield

Red cards supposedly change games, especially when you lose your captain like Bournemouth did on Saturday. Instead, Simon Francis’ extremely well deserved red, which he picked up deep into first-half injury time with his side 2-0 up, only strengthened the Cherries’ resolve.